The Other Curse
by jollygreendragon
Summary: Karis has a secret that only Matthew, Tyrell, and a few others know. She scrapes by, but it gets harder and harder to hide as more people join their quest. Ablaze with internal conflict, she must come to terms with who she really is before it starts to take its toll. Minor AU, no major shipping.
1. Chapter 1

**Golden Sun belongs to Nintendo and Camelot, not me. Support them if you like the series! I just write fanstuff. And if you feel like borrowing any of my original ideas, please, go right ahead.**

* * *

"You know, Karis," Matthew said for probably the twentieth time since setting out, "you don't have to come if you don't want to. Nobody's forcing you to. I mean, you're invited, and you'll be a major asset, but-"

Karis rolled her eyes and tuned him out, focusing instead on building a plan to retrieve the Roc's Feather. By all rights, that probably should have been the group leader's job. But he was clearly planning to play it by ear, and it wasn't like Tyrell was going to do anything about it.

"The plan's still to meet Kraden in Bilibin, right?" she asked, completely ignoring Matthew's concerns. "Is he still traveling with Mia's kids? I'm kind of looking forward to meeting them. Have either of you met them? D'you know what they're like?"

Tyrell frowned. He opened his mouth and threw his arms out, but paused before saying anything. Karis thought that this must have been the first time ever that he thought about something before saying it.

"You do know," he said finally, "that this is going to be a long trip?"

Karis nodded. "Uh-huh. I packed extra clothes, and we've got enough food to last."

"No," Tyrell continued. "I mean... a long trip. You know? Possibly more than, uh, a month?"

"Yup," she replied, voice free of emotion. "Feminine products too."

She took the lead of the group as the two boys slowed their pace, exchanging looks that spoke volumes. Karis ignored them all the same.

They came to a crossroads. One road led to Carver's Camp, and the other led back home to Kalay. She didn't slow. She didn't even stop to consider taking the other route. By now, her father would have received her letter, stating – as opposed to requesting – that she would be part of Matthew and Tyrell's unplanned expedition. Goodbyes were unnecessary. And if Ivan got his hands on her, he'd find a way to make her stay put.

She heard Matthew clear his throat to speak. She cringed in anticipation.

"I, uh," he stammered, "I should probably stop at home to say bye to Mom. You know, while we're in the neighborhood. Might not hurt to stock up on supplies too-"

Karis whirled, her eyes narrowed. "Matthew, look," she said. "We both know this isn't about supplies or goodbyes. We stocked up at Patcher's place, and going home will take us far out of our way. We'll end up keeping Kraden and the others waiting."

Matthew shook his head. "Well, yeah, but..." He trailed off. He glanced at Tyrell with pleading eyes, and was met with only a shrug.

"Do you know what this feels like?" Karis asked. "It feels like you're trying to exclude me from your adventure. Now, you're my friends and I trust you, so I'm inclined to believe that you think this is for my own good. Well, guess what? I'm a grown woman. I can make my own decisions and take my own risks. I want to be part of this, and I can help you. You know I can. Where else are you going to find a Jupiter Adept? We aren't exactly common."

Her friends looked at each other again, each one obviously hoping that the other would think of something to say. Neither did, so Karis continued.

"If it's because you think I'll be a burden, then just say so. But keep in mind that I've lived with this for sixteen years of my life. I know how to handle it, and can do so without any help from others. It doesn't need to impact you at all – if any special arrangements need to be made, I'll make them myself. And if you still think it'll be too much of an issue, then... well, tell me. Don't look for excuses. I'm not stupid."

Tyrell fidgeted with his fingers. "Well, I mean, obviously you aren't stupid. We know that. But-"

Matthew put up a hand, and his friend fell to silence. "No," he said. "She's right. She knows how to handle this. We're sorry, Karis. We won't try to send you home again. But if you need anything, don't be afraid to let us know. We're here to help. That's what friends are for, right?"

"Right," Karis said with a token smile. "I appreciate it. Thanks, you guys."

They continued on at their previous brisk march, and the silence was not an uncomfortable one. They had a mission, and they didn't waste words on the road to completing it.

But despite what she had said to the others, Karis was conflicted and worried. She trusted her friends, but being loyal and being blind were not the same thing. Had they tried to exclude her out of concern, or out of pity? She had no idea. She had never been able to tell one from the other, not when it came to her condition.

Not for the first time, she wished that Ivan's Mind Reading technique had been the curse she inherited.

* * *

Those villains had said that they would deposit the boy at either the north or south cave exit, depending on their whims. It was a dirty trick, one intended to split the group. And it worked. Kraden and Nowell had gone north, while Matthew's group had gone south. The cave mouth had detonated behind them to ensure that they wouldn't turn back.

Karis knew that Rief would end up at the south end. She knew because it was just her luck that today of all days would be the one where they picked up a new teammate. She knew because it wouldn't make sense for the villains to abduct the boy, only to return him to his original group – that would just be counterproductive.

And she knew because behind the smell of dust, wood, and gunpowder, she detected a faint aroma of frost and old paper. Not that she would let on why her senses were so acute at that moment. Rief was within earshot, and he seemed like the type that would ask questions.

When they came across the crate, she feigned ignorance, despite every instinct within her that shouted "Human! There's a human in the box! Open it!" She kept quiet when Matthew pondered how odd it was that someone would leave something like this in the middle of nowhere. When the box hopped in the air and Tyrell shouted in surprise, she managed to avoid sighing out loud. She only spoke when he subsequently suggested striking the box.

"If someone left a crate here," she said, "it has to have some purpose, Tyrell. Hitting it won't help. Let's just try to open it. Gently."

Initial introductions went smoothly, despite Matthew and Tyrell's obvious dismay. They knew as well as Karis did that it could complicate things. But they did their best to be welcoming, and before long they were chatting with Rief like old friends. Even Karis had some things to say; her advance warning had given her time to prepare herself. She had planned ahead, if only a little.

The four of them gathered their belongings and started heading south. They talked animatedly, and there were several moments where Karis felt... normal. It was dangerous to let her guard down, especially when it was this close, but she had put so much effort into the illusion – for Rief's benefit – that everything was fine, that she almost believed it herself.

But then she caught a scent in the air that the others would never notice, or she felt a tingling itch on her skin, or felt an ache in her joints, or caught a glimpse of the waxing gibbous moon hanging low in the afternoon sky.

The group stopped at around dinner time, and once they had cleaned up after themselves, Karis announced that she was going back to the collapsed passage into Konpa Ruins. It wouldn't make sense to take such a massive detour, she said, if there was another way over the mountains. It would save a lot of time if they found a path that had merely been overlooked. But the others should go on ahead to Harapa, she continued, and wait for her there. It would only be a day or so, and they could spend that time gathering useful information and taking a well-deserved rest.

Rief accepted this explanation easily, and Matthew in particular gave her a smile of either sympathy or gratitude. Karis couldn't tell. But it didn't matter. She went north, they went south.

That night, Karis ran free.

And by the time she caught up with the rest of the group in Harapa, things were back to the way they should be. There was no more pretending. No more need.

* * *

Prince Amiti seemed a pleasant sort. Perhaps a bit idealistic for Karis's tastes, but his heart was in the right place, and among royals that made a world of difference. He would succeed Paithos well.

But his attentions were approaching the point of concern.

Somehow he had managed to corner her alone in Ayuthay's underground, despite Matthew and Tyrell's seeming inability to let her out of their sight any other time of day. Now, without anyone to deflect the conversation, Amiti was grilling Karis on a variety of topics.

Some of them were innocent. He asked her what life was like in Kalay. He asked what her favorite hobbies were. Seemingly insignificant bits of trivia like her favorite colors and food were brought into the conversation.

But then he started asking about her parents.

"Oh, well, my dad's Ivan," Karis said. "We mentioned that we're the children of the Warriors of Vale, right? Though my dad isn't technically from Vale, he's from Kalay – old Kalay, that is – and it turns out that only about half of the Warriors of Vale are actually from Vale..."

"What about your mother?" Amiti asked.

Karis tilted her head innocently. "What about her?" she asked.

"Well," Amiti said with a hint of a smile, "she must be quite an incredible woman herself to catch Ivan's eye... and to bring someone like you into the world."

"...Incredible is right," Karis said slowly, carefully, only catching parts of what Amiti was saying, her mind racing to decide what was safe to say. "She was a good person, from what I remember. She died when I was very young."

Amiti's face fell. "Oh. I'm sorry," he said, eyes downcast. "I didn't mean to bring up anything painful."

"No, it's alright," she hurried to say. "I like thinking about her. The few memories I have of her make it all worthwhile." The bond they had shared, even for such a short time, made up for what she inherited.

"You're lucky you have memories," Amiti said. "My mother died in childbirth."

Karis felt a twinge of guilt. She had been so self-absorbed that she forgot. "I'm sure she'd be proud of you if she saw the man you've grown up to be."

Amiti smiled. "My thanks," he said. "There are some things I wish I could change about the world. But..." He placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad we met, Karis."

At that moment, the path of their conversation – complete with the body language and implications, both subtle and otherwise, on Amiti's end – finally caught up with her. Her heart leaped into her throat and her eyes widened in shock.

Gently, uncertainly, she reached up to Amiti's hand, and guided it away.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "I like you. You're a great person. But while I'd love to consider you a friend, I don't think it's possible to be anything more than that."

He blushed and muttered a few apologies. The conversation didn't last much longer after that, and he quietly excused himself to prepare for the group's trip into the maze beneath the city. Karis felt awful treating him like that, but it had to be done.

Time and time again, she wondered what it would be like to just be normal. She could never experience the relationships that people spoke of in poems and bedtime stories. Someday she would get up the courage to pretend, and then maybe she could see how long she could stand to hide herself from her loved one. But not now. There was a lot at stake. She couldn't handle the emotional turmoil that an accidental revelation would bring.

_It's not you,_ she thought at Amiti's back, _it's me._

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTES:_

_So ends part one of two of this very short story! By now most of you have probably guessed this fic's minor point of departure from canon. Not gonna say what it is outright, but I'm not trying particularly hard to hide the "twist ending." The atmosphere is a higher priority than any revelations here, and I'm expending more effort on trying a different style than on keeping my hints subtle._

_Part two is probably coming tomorrow night, and after that I promise I'll get back to DoJ! I've had to put off chapter 68 for several important reasons, and it happens to be a particularly difficult chapter to write as well. But I'll see what I can do._


	2. Chapter 2

**Golden Sun belongs to Nintendo and Camelot, not me. Support them if you like the series! I just write fanstuff. And if you feel like borrowing any of my original ideas, please, go right ahead.**

* * *

Her name was Sveta, and only recently she had been stalking the group from the shadows, terrifying them to the extent that Karis was actually thankful for the enhanced senses that had crept up on her again. Now, only a few days later, she was a member of the crew, talking and laughing and... well, not joking, she didn't seem to understand wordplay, but there was definitely a rapport.

No one seemed to mind that she wasn't human. It was glaringly obvious, and it was all the more jarring when Sveta would pause in the middle of an intelligent conversation to sniff a tree or lick her fur, not to mention the fact that she had led them out of that cave in the first place by tracking invisible paths tread by monsters who had come before.

She didn't seem dangerous, but Karis didn't trust her. And with the sidelong glances Sveta kept sending her, it seemed that the feeling was mutual. A confrontation was inevitable, and when it occurred, only dumb luck prevented it from going horribly wrong.

They were midway to Belinsk when Karis gave Matthew and Tyrell the agreed-upon signal that meant she would need to be alone that night. When the time came to draw straws for the evening watch, the selection would be rigged through innocent trickery.

Of the six, only four needed to take shifts to cover the entire night. Matthew or Tyrell would ensure that Karis ended up without a watch. Then, while the first and last shifts went to either Sveta, Rief or Amiti, Matthew and Tyrell would handle the ones in the middle. That way, when Karis left for an evening "walk", she could claim to have returned at some point during the night, having two witnesses who could corroborate her story.

That part went according to plan, at least. The watches were given to Sveta, Matthew, Tyrell and Amiti, in that order, with Karis and Rief taking the night off.

They set up their tents, but as sunset approached, Karis muttered something about feeling restless. She excused herself and set off, planning to get out-of-sight as soon as possible.

If not for her empowered senses, she would never have noticed that she was being followed.

A shift in the air allowed Karis to catch her pursuer's scent. A subtle adjustment in her path allowed her to catch Sveta by surprise. The beastgirl had been moving silently through the trees parallel to Karis's route, a fact that would have been difficult to explain when they nearly bumped into each other.

"_What's your deal?!_" Karis shouted. "Do you consider it normal to stalk people? Is that it?" Then she brought her voice down to a hiss. "Or do you have some ulterior motive for sticking with us? Because I find it kind of fishy the way you wormed your way into the group. Do you honestly expect me to believe that you stuck with us so you could return a purse to a little girl you happened across?"

Sveta bared her teeth. "How dare you! I was not _stalking,_ I was-"

"You were what?" Karis said. "You decided you needed an evening walk too? Except you decided to take your walk right alongside mine, and you figured it would be a good idea not to alarm me by revealing your presence. Oh, and aren't you supposed to be at camp taking the first watch?" That part was the most disturbing, actually. If Matthew had caught her trying to follow Karis, he would never have let Sveta leave camp without a fuss. The others were probably asleep right now, and without someone to keep an eye on the area, they were in legitimate danger.

"I did not think I would be gone long," Sveta said. "After all, if you had really gone for an evening walk as you suggested you were doing, you would have made sure to remain close to the others. Odd, then, that you seem to be trying to put as much distance as possible between yourself and them."

"You're imagining things," Karis replied. But she eyed the beastgirl with suspicion. Sveta had promised to keep her mind reading to a minimum, especially after the way Matthew reacted the first time. The others seemed content with that, but Sveta's word meant nothing to Karis.

"My mistake, then," Sveta said, never breaking eye contact. "I will just be heading back to camp, then. I assume you plan to join me?"

Karis broke the stare to glance at the rapidly-diminishing last rays of sunlight. The western half of the sky was a deep orange. It wouldn't be long before the color faded entirely. "No," she said. "You go ahead, I'll be along shortly after."

Sveta folded her arms. Her nostrils flared. "Karis, you accused me just now of having an ulterior motive. You were not entirely incorrect. My initial purpose was to return Ho Jou's bag – sincerely, that was my only objective. But then I caught your scent. There is something very wrong with you. I can feel it in my bones. You are _dangerous_. Why do they let you travel with them?"

Karis staggered as though she had been struck. A cold sweat broke out on the back of her neck.

"We aren't having this conversation," Karis said. "Go back to camp."

"Matthew and Tyrell always seem to be covering for you," Sveta continued. "And yet Amiti and Rief appear to be completely unaware that you are hiding anything at all. I know not the nature of your corruption, but I understand that by not telling the truth, you are putting them at risk. They deserve better."

"There's nothing wrong!" Karis shouted. "Go home! Go _now!_"

"I refuse. Not until you tell the truth," Sveta said. "You said I was hiding something. That is true. But now is not the time to speak of it. Suffice to say, your friends' quest to take a feather from the Mountain Roc – the symbol of Morgal, of my people – is one I must take no part in. The only reason I have remained with them for this long is so that I can protect them from you. If you want my trust, then prove yourself trustworthy."

"_I have it under control!_" Karis cried. "They're safe, as safe as I can make them! That's why I-"

"You have _what_ under control?" Sveta asked.

"_Go home!_"

"No!"

Karis looked up, and saw that the sun was completely set below the horizon. Panic shot through her, and she immediately tilted her head down, focusing all of her willpower to keep her eyes on what was below – not what was above.

"You're right," Karis said. "I came out here to get as far away from camp as possible. But it's not because I bear them ill will. I'm out here to keep them safe from _me._"

She didn't see Sveta's expression, but her voice carried a cautious tone. "Karis," she said slowly, "what is going on? What is your secret?"

It was like an itch in her own brain, the urge to send her gaze skyward. She wouldn't be able to resist for long. Even if she could, she had a feeling it wouldn't matter.

She had never been forced to hold back like this. How much control did she really have?

"I think you have time to make it back to camp if you hurry," Karis growled. "I won't come near it. You'll be safe there. But then again... you've been antagonizing me all evening, trying to push me further and further. Ironic, isn't it, that you came along to protect my friends, when the only one really at risk is you?"

A spark of pain shot through her from nowhere in particular. It was as if her bones simply disagreed with their own placement, and had decided to protest. She fell to her hands and knees, fingers gripping and squeezing the dirt below her like she was dangling at the edge of a very tall cliff.

She smelled Sveta's fear.

"Karis..." the beastgirl whispered. "What is going on? What are you doing-"

Karis gritted her rapidly-sharpening teeth. Her back arched, and she raised her eyes toward the full moon.

"_**GO! HOME!**_" she howled. And then her conscious mind gave in.

She woke up at sunrise the next morning without any memory of the previous night, and made her way back to camp near the end of Amiti's watch.

He poked fun at her apparent decision to take both an evening stroll and a morning stroll over the same nighttime period, and joked that she was just trying to get away from the group. Karis laughed and took it in stride. She was feeling completely refreshed, and was in very good humor.

An hour or two later, once everyone was awake and ready to go, a very shaken-looking Sveta announced that while she had enjoyed her time with the party, she could not take part in their quest to retrieve the Roc's feather, and thus would be leaving immediately for Belinsk. If they wanted to meet with her again, the group could request the song Arangoa Prelude from the band in the town square, and she would take that as a signal to seek them out.

Karis was not surprised in the slightest when Arangoa Prelude turned out to be an incredibly difficult song known only by about five people in the entire world, and that requesting it was the equivalent of asking the Lord of Bilibin to provide entertainment for a five-year-old's birthday party. But the fact that Sveta had given the group a means of contacting her at all was surprising enough, considering what she went through.

* * *

The moment the tower was activated, Karis new something was very, very wrong.

It started with a surge of pain that no one else appeared to have felt. It turned the escape from Luna Tower from a quick run up a few stairs into a test of will. And when the group made it outside and Karis finally had a chance to catch her breath, she found herself experiencing a growing sense of unease.

It stayed with her when they went back into the castle, and through the encounter with King Volechek and the meeting with Kraden. It was noticeably more distracting when they freed Eoleo from his cage. By the time they actually made it out of the castle to talk to him, the feeling had turned into a pounding, pulsing sense of anxiety.

She doubled over, wrapping her arms around her stomach. "Something's wrong..." she said, as her friends turned to look upon her with concern. Sveta, too, turned to her, but in the way a concerned parent would look at a bear charging toward her children.

Sveta made the connection before Karis did. Her eyes went wide, and she snapped her head around to look into the sky. A quiet growl from her throat attracted attention from the rest of the group, and soon everyone was following her gaze.

Luna Tower was but a silhouette against the light of the sun, as it slowly fell into line behind the moon.

The _full_ moon.

"No..." Karis whispered. The moon wasn't even visible last night. She should have had more time. _She needed more time._

Kraden seemed similarly concerned, but for a different reason. He told the group that no matter what happened, they had to get as far away from Belinsk as possible. Eoleo mentioned that his ship was docked in the city, giving them an easy escape route if it came to that.

They hurried back through the castle, but the moment they passed through the main gates to enter the city proper, Karis felt a lurch. Awash with pain, terror and guilt, she knew that she was out of time.

"Matthew, Tyrell..." she said, "everyone... I'm sorry."

The curse of Garoh hit her full-force, and she was powerless to stop it.

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTES:_

_I know I said "tomorrow," but... whatever. I've made enough excuses. This is the second of three halves, the third of which is in progress and will be released soonish! I just cut the chapter off here for pacing purposes. When it's all over I'll leave it as a three-parter for a week or so and then condense it into a single chapter, the way it probably should've been in the first place._

_And yeah, duh! Of course she's a werewolf. Congrats to those who read my subtle-as-a-brick clues. ;)  
_

_Thanks for reading along! For those who read DoJ too, but aren't subscribed to my author alerts, I'd like to point out that I put out the first chapter of Chronicles of the Wardens, a modern-era story following the immortal Warriors of Vale... so far my traffic report says that a total of three people have read it, and one of them is me. Maybe people are trying to avoid spoilers? I dunno. It's there. It's M-rated, so change the story filter or check my profile to find it._

_Gonna keep writing, I'm on a roll right now._


	3. Chapter 3

**Golden Sun belongs to Nintendo and Camelot, not me. Support them if you like the series! I just write fanstuff. And if you feel like borrowing any of my original ideas, please, go right ahead.**

* * *

When Alchemy was sealed, the majority of the beast races – sentient beings whose forms were irreversibly changed by the power of psynergy – vanished with it. The elements that made them inhuman was no longer present to exert its pressure. But there still existed some who, by some quirk of evolution, were more sensitive to alchemy than others, and Luna's subtle twisting of the forces of nature was just enough to put them over the edge.

For the most part, they were hunted down. People who lost their minds at sunset could not live peacefully among the population. But in the southeast, a group of these individuals managed to gather together, to train themselves to stay sane even with the rise of the full moon. They mastered their curse and overcame it, settling down to create the hidden city of Garoh, each of them, and their descendants, vowing to protect the city's secret from outsiders. Werewolf children were taught to control their beastial forms at the same time as they learned to walk or speak. Absolute discipline reigned, and the werewolves remained safely unknown to the rest of Weyard.

In all the years since then, the only time the secret was revealed was during the quest to light the Lighthouses, and then only to the Warriors of Vale.

After the Golden Sun Event, with the restoration of psynergy to the world, the werewolves found it even more difficult to control themselves beneath the full moon. Unity had always been their greatest strength, and together the people of the werewolf nation mastered their curse once more. But with Weyard's revival, so to speak, came a surge in expansion. New lands were settled, new nations were founded. For the first time in history, the werewolf nation stepped beyond its self-imposed prison.

Tradition was maintained wherever possible. The curse was kept secret from all but the most trusted of outsiders, and the greater part of the new generation was trained in the techniques of their ancestors.

But risk must always accompany reward. Life is never predictable. Nor is it eternal.

When a mother dies in childbirth, her newborn must learn to live without her guiding hand, her lessons in right and wrong. Far from her ancestral home, and with no one to guide her, the child would be deprived of the lessons of her people's history. One cannot substitute centuries of practice and refinement, not even a Warrior of Vale. Not even for one's only daughter.

With mastery impossible, containment was the only option.

Containment failed.

* * *

"_Oh, crap! Matthew, what are we going to do-"_

"_Everyone hurry! We must stop her before she-"_

"_Is... is that what she was trying to say? This was her secret-"_

"_No! Just no! She's not coming on my boat, there's no way I'm putting my crew's lives in danger for that-"_

"_What's going on?! What happened to her, why'd she-"_

The voices washed over her, the meaning barely registering in her mind. Instinct was taking over, and to her other side, it was all just noise, an indicator that there were living things around. They pulled at her attention, her feral mind trying desperately to figure out if they were predators or prey.

She was still floating around in there, somewhere. She was still technically in control, the same way a bird is technically in control of itself in a hurricane. She simply didn't have enough willpower to make any meaningful change. The wolf was in charge. Karis was just along for the ride.

That was, of course, until her friends began to back away cautiously. That was when the wolf reclassified them as "prey." Impossibly strong muscles coiled, preparing to pounce, and-

_NO._

"Hroooooooo!"

_I will NOT. NO. NEVER._

The wolf attempted to simultaneously launch itself forward and backward, which resulted in painful muscle spasms and a hard tumble onto the stony ground.

She brought a paw over her muzzle and wrestled herself down for as long as she could control herself. It was as though every inch of her body wanted nothing more than to devour her friends whole. It was nothing less than a fight against her own existence.

"_Is she alright -"_

"_She looks hurt, we have to -"_

"_Stay back, it is a trick -"_

Her mind shouted commands at her, and she could barely tell which came from the wolf and which came from her. _Flee. Attack. Consume. Intimidate. Challenge. Dominate. Escape. Survive._

She tried her best to just do nothing, to stay idle. It was impossible. She was restless in the worst possible way. Temptation pulled her in every direction. She didn't think she would be able to hold back long enough for them to escape.

Then they started to approach her cautiously. Her feral instincts went berserk. She very nearly lost control.

_Fine!_ she shouted at herself in desperation. _Intimidate away!_

So she howled.

She howled out all her rage, all her frustration. She howled out the anguish and sadness that came from sixteen years of restraint and fear. She howled out her claim to life, her resolution to be a human being, not a monster. For the first time, every part of her was working in unison toward a single goal – to be as utterly terrifying as possible to the group before her.

It worked.

Karis felt it, that moment where their desire to help became a desire to run. It was like flicking a switch. One moment she was a friend in need, the next she was just another monster. It was the moment she had feared for her entire life. How ironic that she should feel such relief.

The wolf's ears caught another sound on the wind. Screams. Hundreds of them, sounding from throughout the city. It took a moment to reconsider its actions. If they were afraid, maybe it should be too.

Its hesitation gave Karis a foothold, and she held onto it with all her might.

"_I hate to say it, but we might have other things to worry about here -"_

"_What do we do, we can't just leave her -"_

"_We don't have a choice, there's no way we'll make it back -"_

They were leaving her. There was something else going on in the city, something big – the Eclipse was doing more than she had yet realized. She couldn't figure it out, but the others certainly had. It was a reason for them to leave her alone, to secure their own safety. And for her, it was a crucial distraction.

She focused on the screams. To her feral instincts, she pinged _vulnerability._ If something was screaming, that meant it needed help, and if it needed help, that meant she could overpower it. She didn't intend to hurt anyone. But it was something to focus on; if she couldn't hold back the flood, at least she could try to redirect it.

The wolf agreed. Before she knew it, she had bolted toward a nearby rooftop, reaching its heights in a single leap. She stopped herself, forcing the wolf into indecision, deciding which set of screams to pursue first.

It gave her a chance for one last look back at her former friends.

Sveta and Eoleo were herding them toward the docks. They were beset on all sides by some manner of shadow creatures – she had to hold herself back from protecting them, knowing that she was likely an even greater threat than the monsters – and they would be overwhelmed if they didn't try to escape. The looks on their faces said that they knew it, too; they had no choice, but abandoning her was their only option.

They likely couldn't see much of her beyond her silhouette. But she distinctly saw Matthew look up toward her before he left.

"_We'll find some way to save you. I promise."_

* * *

Time ceased to matter for Karis once Briggs' ship set sail. Her rational mind was exhausted from trying to hold back the beast. So she gave up.

She felt brushes of pain, and the exhilaration of combat. She couldn't tell what she was fighting. She hoped it was the shadow creatures she had seen before. It could just as easily have been helpless citizens.

It wasn't long before the concept of _enemy territory_ started to etch itself into her mind. Some of the beings her instincts had identified as "targets" were gathering together; tempting as it would have been to go after them, she swiftly learned that they were well-protected. Advancing into those brightly-lit areas where the civilians hid meant being attacked by coordinated groups of Belinsk soldiers, much more dangerous than the typical shadow beasts.

Like the nightmarish creatures, she learned to avoid the light.

The wolf grew hungry. The dark, abandoned structures all around the city served as promising places to search, and it didn't take long for her to catch the scent of something edible. The Karis part of her willingly withdrew; certainly, the people of Belinsk would have prepared and stored food, but Karis had noticed that the shadow creatures left corpses where they laid. The wolf did not discriminate when it came to food.

She let the wolf eat. She did not take stock of her surroundings. The wolf was aware of what was going on; inevitably she was attacked, but she was not taken by surprise. The fight was brief, but took her far enough from her initial location that, with its stomach sated, the wolf no longer cared to continue its meal. When it was safe to do so, she opened her eyes – metaphorically speaking – and looked around.

That "abandoned building" that she wandered into happened to be Belinsk Castle. There were no lights; she saw only thanks to the enhanced night-vision of her wolf form, and relied more heavily on scent and sound anyway.

"_You lied to me! You betrayed me, and without your interference my people would not be dying!"_

It seemed ironic that the castle, intended to be a stronghold against attack, ended up being one of the more vulnerable locations in the city to this sort of catastrophe. All of the refugees and survivors were gathering in open, well-lit areas. The twisted corridors of the castle would have worked against them. If anyone had actually tried to take cover here in the first place, they were all gone.

"_We did no such thing. We told you it was a weapon. We just didn't tell you that it was meant to be used against you!"_

There were, however, echoes. Karis's enhanced ears picked them up easily, though in her feral form they made little sense to her. She could tell they were voices. She could tell that they were familiar. But she couldn't assign any meaning to any of it.

It was enough to draw her toward the source.

"_You will regret this. If it takes me until the end of my days, my people will have their revenge-"_

"_Oh, I doubt it. You see, you still belong to us, whether you realize it or not."_

The windows of the throne room seemed to let the darkness in, the same way a normal sunrise would have brought light. The purplish haze that hid the sky served to blacken even Karis's night-vision, and she found it easier to see what was in the centre of the unlit room than what was near the windows.

There were three figures. Two of them radiated hate and malice in a way that made her hackles rise. The third... the third had a different aura. Her feral instincts told her that this was someone to be followed and obeyed. She respected him instantly.

"_You see, Blados and I have plans for you, and by the time we're done, you won't have any choice. You'll be our pawn again, just as you have in the past."_

"_Nonsense! I will die before I listen to you again-"_

"_Blados?"_

There was a blur of movement and a loud clash. Karis's heart began to pound. She sensed the stench of conflict in the air.

"_You're quick. I like it."_

"_A king must be able to defend his people in more ways than one."_

"_Too bad I'm still better."_

There was a series of much, much louder clashes, ending with a ringing clatter. The wolf in her made her spring back away from the potential danger. They still hadn't noticed her, that was something she knew to be fact. But that didn't mean she was safe from collateral damage.

"_So you have bested me. But how do you expect to make me your pawn if I am dead?"_

"_We were never going to kill you, fool... at least, not until you make yourself useful. We're going on a little trip back to Tuaparang. Don't worry – I'll make sure you're awake for the procedure itself!"_

"_No... never!"_

"_Bedtime, Volechek. Blados?"_

There was another clatter, but different this time; it was like dropping metal cutlery. And before she could react, Karis was nearly blinded by several arcs of lightning that seemed to spring out of nowhere.

The wolf, timid and afraid of what it did not understand, shied away. Karis seized the reigns. She still didn't know quite what was going on, but the two were ganging up on the one. In the back of her mind, perhaps she hoped to redeem herself, to prove that she was more than just a monster. But regardless of what she had done in the recent past, she made up her mind to do the right thing in this case, no matter how difficult it would be to fight her instincts.

"_Still standing? No matter. Grab him."_

Karis pounced.

She was a flurry of claws and teeth. The wolf joined in the moment it realized that there was no way out but fighting. She was a cornered beast, even though she had cornered herself willingly.

It wasn't quite enough. Once the element of surprise wore off, she felt her momentum vanish. Sharp stings of pain began to pop up all over her arms, torso and face. She was beginning to regret her decision.

The third man, the one who had been attacked, stood and watched dumbly, little wisps of steam rising off him from the earlier lightning. He was definitely injured, but not incapacitated. He didn't run. So she roared at him.

He narrowed his eyes. There was no fear there. A flutter of psynergy spread from him, but to no obvious effect.

She roared harder, struggling to keep both enemies at bay. It was a battle she wasn't sure she would win. No, loss was inevitable, in fact, and all she could do was put it off a little longer. The last vestige of humanity within her prayed that the man would just go, so her efforts would not be in vain. She was at her limit.

"_...I am sorry. Thank you. One day... One day, I promise I shall repay you."_

He picked up the sword that his opponent had knocked away, and fled. Karis gave a final surge of effort to cover his escape.

It didn't last long.

Succumbing to her wounds, the sounds and scents of the world began to fade. The wolf didn't understand. Karis, the rational part of her, had receded, knowing that its work was done. The voices continued. She ignored them. They were unimportant. It was all unimportant now.

She just needed to rest.

"_...Well, he got away. Great job, Chalis."_

"_I'm hardly to blame for this, you brute. But no matter. All we needed was a pawn. Don't you agree that one has presented itself nicely?"_

"_Can we use it?"_

"_As easily as any other. I'm looking forward to this."_

* * *

Nothing unites disparate people more than a common enemy.

Which is why, during the single greatest calamity in the history of Angara, so many of her warring states found it within themselves to unite beneath a single banner.

With the king of Morgal having escaped his besieged capital, he eventually managed to reunite with his sister, Princess Sveta, and her traveling companions. They had already embarked on a quest to end the Eclipse, and King Volechek had no qualms whatsoever about joining them, particularly to make amends after the part he played in beginning it.

What followed was a shockingly effective diplomatic campaign. Sana, the historic enemy and oppressor of the beastmen, was ironically one of the first to pledge aid when Morgal's royal family came to their doorstep. That was, of course, after Eoleo of Champa and Amiti of Ayuthay made commitments of their own, having accepted Sveta as a close friend beforehand. It was not long before Yamata followed suit (their Princess Himi setting out personally to assist), and as word spread, nation after nation formed plans to assist their bretheren in the north.

Ships full of refugee aid from Tolbi sailed into the darkness with escort ships from Alhafra. From Yallam to Contigo to even Prox, courageous men and women made their commitment to fight the spreading eclipse and protect those who needed protecting. Not everyone could be saved, but within the impenetrable shadow cast by the moon, hope lived on.

Naturally, the Children of Vale, with their royal entourage, were far from idle. As they petitioned for aid, they searched for clues as to the nature of the Eclipse. Hunting myth after myth, they eventually found what they were looking for: the Apollo Lens. It could be fired at Luna Tower, destroying it and ending the Eclipse, hopefully once and for all. The Lens itself was located along Sana's Endless Wall, deep in the centre of the afflicted area, but after trial after trial, they reached their goal.

But not without cost.

* * *

Karis supposed that she missed when the world made sense. She had been running on instinct – letting the wolf lead the way – for so long that she almost forgot what it was like to be in control of herself. But she didn't mind, not anymore. Sitting back, dissociating from herself, spared her from the pain that accompanied every facet of existence now.

A pain that had only intensified due to recent events.

"_Yeah, what?! What now, huh?! Can't handle it? Then step off and let the good guys do their job!"_

This was the first time in a long, long while that she could remember seeing light. Now there was too much of it. Had she adapted to the darkness? This couldn't really just be sunrise... was it? It had been a long evening...

"_Settle down, Tyrell. We're done here. All that's left to do is fire the Lens."_

She hallucinated, not for the first time. As always, it mattered less to her what the voices said, and more how they sounded. It was the comforting familiarity that she needed. It calmed her to imagine that she could hear her friends.

"_...Wait. Something is wrong. This is..."_

Karis hoped they had escaped safely. How long had it been since she last saw them? Since the last time she felt sane?

"_Brother, what... hold on. I sense it too. Matthew, come, I need -"_

Their silhouettes stayed with her. They meant less now than they had once. She supposed that when she had been human, she might even have been able to tell one from another.

"_I know this one. I saw her before. She... she jumped in between myself and those two. She sacrificed herself to save me. She knew what she was doing -"_

A saddening realization occurred to her.

"_Oh. Oh, hell... Crap! Rief, Amiti, get over here -"_

Had they ever existed in the first place?

"_Wretches! You were planning to... this! To ME?!"_

Had her mind invented the idea of friends to satisfy her, to keep her going?

"_Gods... Volechek, you were almost... oh, brother..."_

It had been so long since she was certain about anything. Perhaps pain was all there was. Perhaps she only dreamed of an existence where she could be happy.

"_Matthew, I know I have asked a lot of you during my time among you and your companions. But please... is there anything you can do? Can you save her?"_

Perhaps she was okay with that.

"_She's our friend too. If there's a way, we'll find it."_

If her friends were real, then that meant somewhere out there, they might still have been trying to save her. Even worse, they might have died trying.

"_We're doing our best, but Matthew, I don't know... it's not looking good."_

If there was nothing, then that was fine. It meant Karis had always been alone. It was sad for her. But she preferred that to being a burden on everyone she met.

"_Rief, Amiti, Matthew... I trust you. I trust every one of you here. All I ask is that you do your best. I owe her my life, and so much more than that. But for now -"_

Her father. Her childhood friends. All the people they had picked up along their quest.

"_The Lens, right? It must yet be activated. I will do the deed."_

They had all sacrificed so much, risked so much, just to give her a chance at living a normal life.

"_No, sister. You have done well in leading us safely here, and for that I thank you. But you are tired. If you make this final ascent, I fear you will not make it back."_

If they existed, that meant they must have had failed. All their work had been for nothing.

"_Volechek, we can see how intense the light is from here! If you go, who is to say that you will find any more success than I? If one of the Czamarals must die, let it be the runaway princess, not the -"_

Karis didn't mind suffering.

"_Give me the Umbra Gear, Sveta. I will make it back. I made a promise that I have yet to see through."_

Just as long as she suffered alone.

* * *

Something felt different when she awoke. She couldn't put her finger on it, not at first. Nothing really seemed out-of-place or unusual. Nothing jumped out at her as "wrong."

It didn't take long for her to realize that was exactly what was different.

Karis still didn't feel particularly lucid, but she could still feel a sense of ease in the atmosphere. It wasn't completely quiet, not in the lonely, nervous way she was familiar with. She could hear that there were sounds in the distance, and for once, they were not the sounds of battle or pain.

The light in the room – for she was in a room, she realized, and she could see at least three walls from where she laid – was at a manageable level, not the unnatural pitch-black of Eclipse ground zero, nor the desperate brightness of a safe zone. There was color, and a sense of comfortable clutter that designated it as a place of relaxation.

She still felt the pain. It stood out as a sort of mistake among the otherwise carefree atmosphere. But she had managed it for so long that it was just another part of life. She set it aside and allowed herself some relief in the fact that life had inexplicably gotten better.

The wolf was tired. Her instincts no longer held any sway over her. She was able to be herself again, at least until she recovered.

"You're awake again. Can you hear me this time? Can you understand me?"

She twitched in response to the sudden noise. For the first time, she noticed the scent of another person in the room. The wolf made a weak play at demanding a hunt or a chase, but Karis could barely move, and the wolf gave up without much trouble. She whimpered, cringing as her throat burned from the effort. But at least she had answered, and under her own power.

"Here, just..." She felt something move under her hand. "Tap this once for yes, twice for no, three times if it's more complicated and you want me to read you. Understand?"

Karis paused. Then she cautiously lifted a finger, fighting through the pain the movement triggered, and brought it down as heavily as she could. The noise reverberated a little more than she expected. It was still rather silent, but whatever her hand was on – a cold, metallic feeling – it made enough noise for her responses to be audible.

"Oh, thank goodness," continued the voice. "You've been here for weeks now, drifting in and out of consciousness. I didn't know if you'd ever be yourself again. You're safe now, Karis. Matthew and the others brought you back. You're still not 100%, as I'm sure you've figured out, but Mia's on her way down here now that Imil's on the road to recovery."

She was utterly perplexed. She tapped three times. _What's going on? Where am I? I'm so confused..._

There was a faint sensation she couldn't quite identify, and then... contact. A gentle, comforting squeeze around her midriff.

"...I'm sorry. I didn't know you'd been so... in the dark, if you'll pardon the pun. The Tuaparang did something to you. I'm not sure what. It's like they locked you in your wolf form and corrupted it, so to speak. Rief and Amiti have been doing their best, and they're telling me that they're sure it's reversible. They just don't know how yet. I'm sorry it happened. I just wish you had told me before you left. I was so worried..."

Karis waited several seconds, but there was nothing more. She tapped once. _Yes?_

"Right. I forgot that you can't exactly respond. The Eclipse is over now. King Volechek fired the Lens and took out the tower. It's a good thing the group had two beastmen to share the burden of the Umbra Gear, otherwise things might have gone much worse than they did. Anyway, the continent's recovering now, there's plenty of foreign aid coming in. Some nations got hit worse than others, but there's no permanent damage. And the diplomatic repercussions of having five royals setting out together toward a common goal... well, I think things are on the upswing in general."

Tap. _Yes. Okay, sure._ Karis had been disconnected from the world for long enough that none of this mattered to her, but it was such a relief to not only hear a friendly voice, but to be able to understand it. It was almost like having a conversation.

"Make no mistake, Weyard lost a lot in the Eclipse. But it gained a lot too. We'll get back from this, and we'll be stronger than ever before. Which reminds me – as upset as I am that you left home without telling me, and as worried as I was when the eclipse hit and you were nowhere to be found, Matthew and the others told me how well you acquitted yourself. I might have been a little overprotective as you grew up. I'm sorry. I'll do everything I can to help you back to normal, and then... I'll work on it, I guess. Okay?"

Tap. _Sure, why not?_ This person was certainly making a lot of assumptions about how coherent Karis was. She still hadn't figured out who the voice belonged to, or what their connection was. The words were certainly nice.

"I'm glad to have you back home, for now. I'm sure you'll want to be out and about again as soon as you've recovered. In the meantime, is there anything you need? Do you want me to get you anything?"

Tap-tap. _No._

"Alright. Well, the King wanted me to call him in when you finally woke up, so if he's not busy I'll send him in." There was a blur of movement. "Karis... I just want to say this. You're all I have left of your mother. If Matthew and his friends had come home, and you hadn't been with them... I just..."

There was a painful silence.

"I know what you did was necessary, and I know it all turned out to be for the best in the end. But I heard from Volechek what you did, and... can you maybe keep the heroic self-sacrifices to a minimum in the future? For me?"

She gave a noncommittal whimper. Whomever this person was, they seemed to genuinely care for her well-being. She didn't know what to say.

The room's single door opened, and the figure departed. Karis was not alone for long. There was a polite knock on the frame of the open door, and someone new – with a starkly different silhouette – entered, closing the door behind them.

"Hello, Karis. Do you remember me? Be honest."

Tap. She hesitated. Then she tapped a second time. _I want to be polite, but I don't know if I remember you. I don't remember much._ Not that the newcomer would be able to comprehend all that meaning. It would only even be interpreted as a "no" if...

"Your father told me about the arrangement you had come to, what with the one-tap, two-tap system. As before, tap thrice if your answer is complicated. You will be glad to know that Spirit Sense works on much the same level as Mind Read."

Karis would have shrugged if she had the strength. Instead, she just whimpered again.

The figure moved forward and pulled up a chair. He sat quietly for a moment, thinking deeply before beginning.

"I do not take offense at your lack of recognition. I know how it is to go through traumatic experiences. I know what it is to feel loss. When we met, I suspect you had more on your mind. But you saved my life, and for that, I am still in your debt. I am King Volechek of the Czamaral Clan, second King of Morgal. If you had not arrived when you did, I would be in your position now. Or, likely, a rather worse one."

He took a breath to continue, then paused. He reached across and took Karis's ravaged paw. He held it for several seconds before he carried on.

"By ordering the activation of Luna Tower, I failed my nation, perhaps... perhaps more than any other king who ever lived. You gave me the chance to redeem myself. I am not sure if it was your intention. But... I could have stayed, and..."

He hesitated. He pulled his hand back and stood abruptly, turning and folding his hands behind his back.

"Karis, your father told me about your... condition. Frankly, the concept that there has been an entire nation of, if not beastmen, beast-_kin_ all along was startling to me. We did not know the werewolves existed. It is possible that they do not know of us either. I believe our peoples have a lot to offer each other. I believe we can help each other out.

"I have come to the conclusion, based both on stories from your friends and from simple logic, that your transformation that night came about due to the activation of the Luna Tower. In essence, your loss of control was my fault. My lapse of judgment was the first in a long chain of events that led to your current predicament. I believe I have repaid my people for my mistake, at least as well as I am capable. I have done what I could for Weyard in general. But you, I have yet to make amends with. You saved my life, I destroyed yours. This cannot be the status quo. Do you understand?"

Karis nodded. But she tapped three times.

Volechek did a sort of intrigued half-turn, and then knelt next to her.

_You did what you had to,_ she thought. _You didn't set out to cause trouble for your people, and you made things right as soon as you could. And as for me, it was only a matter of time before I lost control anyway. I'm just glad I was in a position to do some good with it._

She heard a low chuckle. "I think I understand," said Volechek. "We are not so different, perhaps. Thank you, though. That means a lot."

He sat back down in the chair. "Most of Morgal's resources must be committed to the nation's reconstruction and renewal. But believe me when I say I will do everything in my power to ensure you recover. You will once again see the light of day, Karis, standing under your own power in the form you see as your own."

Then he leaned forward. "And when that happens, I would like to make a request of you. As I said, I aim to pursue diplomatic relations between Morgal and Garoh. This will mean traveling there personally to meet with their leadership. It would be a boon to have someone connected to the nation in my entourage. Will you come with me, Karis, to Garoh, as Morgal's ambassador?"

Karis froze.

"I understand that you have never had the opportunity to travel there before. This would give you the chance to learn about your history, and of the techniques the other werewolves use to manage their transformations. You do not have to answer immediately -"

Karis tapped three times.

"Hmm?" said Volechek. He leaned in and put a hand on Karis's arm.

_Oh, sorry,_ thought Karis. _I meant to say "Yes" three times in quick succession. I have nothing important to say beyond that. Thank you._

"Ah. I am glad." Volechek stood. "Thank you, Karis. For everything. I pray for your swift recovery. I cannot remain in Kalay for much longer, but I promise we will see each other again soon. Rest well."

He turned and left, and before long, Karis went back to sleep.

For once, she was looking forward to waking up.

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTES:_

_Finally got it done! I wish I could have pulled it off without infodumps, but for now I just like the change in tone they provide. I'd love to have more chances to go full-epic like that._

_I was mildly tempted to throw in some VolechekxKaris at the end there, which I don't think has been done before. Would that have been too weird?_

_And I'm a little worried I sacrificed meaning in favor of flowery text in a few places, so tell me if anything's confusing. This is mostly unedited. I'll be compressing the whole story into one chapter at some point, and when I do that I'll do some general cleaning-up. Hopefully it'll turn out pretty cool!_

_That's all. Hope you enjoyed it._


End file.
